Time to pitch more yeast??

[DoubleG]

I've seen people talk about lack of fermentation activity before and the general consensus is give it time and it will kick off but just looking for some advice on the below:

I brewed a Belgian Blonde ale last Friday and checked it this evening 4 days later and no sign of fermentation and the hydro reading is the same as when I pitched the yeast last Friday. Some background....... the liquid yeast I used was best before July 2015. I made a starter but there was no activity from the yeast starter after 2 days but thought I'd pitch it anyway. I have another vial of liquid yeast available that is in date, question is should I make a starter and pitch the other vial of yeast to kick It all off or keep playing the waiting game on a yeast that has never shown signs of fermentation?

[Leann ull]

What was the OG and the volume? what volume of starter did you use, be honest now 
4 days later no chance, chuck in some US05 to try and salvage your wort
You can sometimes salvage liquid by giving it an extra day for every day that its over but it depends what condition it came to you in the first place and if you have no activity or Krausen in the conical its fooked
I say start again as you don't know whats really kicking off in there and a packet of 05 is not a big sacrifice
Advice to anybody is that you should start seeing activity within 24 hours and significant activity within 48.

[Eoin]

Why did you pitch a starter with no activity?

[DoubleG]

OG was 0.058 in a 19L batch. 1L starter used. I threw in the starter because I thought it might kick off after a day in the wort.

I don't have any US05 but would throwing in the other liquid Belgian ale yeast I have be worthwhile?

[Leann ull]

These are all beersmith numbers

for this batch you needed 233 Billion cells, and standard fresh pack contains only 100 Billion

Lets assume it was packaged July and is still in date
You would need 2.7L starter without a stirplate, or 1L with

If it hadn't kicked off on the starter there is no way it was going to do so in the wort or worse still if it did you would get funky flavours from underpitching, think of a starter as like getting a car into second gear, 1st straight to third and there is going to be some crunching.

It will be 24hours min, before no2 would be ready and there may be lots of of stuff (airborne) having a go already before you pitch, in which case you would have wasted the wort and the second yeast, tough lesson I know 

My advice is chuck it or is there nobody in your vicinity that could lend you a pack of 05?

[Drum]

Dont chuck the batch just yet.

Pitch whatever yeast you have at it and see what happens in a day or 2. At worst you'll be down a pack of yeast more than you are now.  Save a tiny bit of the yeast in the vial and you can grow it up again and recoup that cost.

4 days is pushing it a bit alright but if theres no funky smells from the hydometer sample id say go for it.

[Leann ull]

The horse has 3 legs time for the bullet
Let's know how it turns out?

[Drum]

I'll bet you a pack of us 05 the 3 legged horse makes it over the finish line CH     Might not win any races but give it a chance

[Leann ull]

I've changed my mind it's a 3 legged donkey.
All joking aside we have to be pushing high standards not just below par beer.
Always happy to learn tho
The idea of keeping some of the yeast back from vial no 2 for a second go sounds like good advice but this beer needs a one way ticket to Switzerland.
DoubleG I will be chasing a bottle if this works out!

[molc]

You put all the work into a brew day so why waste it over not ensuring yeast health before pitching. Remember, yeast makes beer, not you.
I'd go with Ciderhead on this one. Pitch clean dry yeast just to see how it turns out or leave it alone and dump if it doesn't start. Make up a new batch for that new vial.

[DoubleG]

Might try the US05 approach....will this just get a fermentation but shit beer?

I have all the ingredients for another batch so may just start again with the other vial and give the starter enough time.

[Eoin]

I suspect this will start up given enough time and temperature, but what else might be in there by then would be the question.
I'd almost consider another ten minute boil before I'd repitch it too....

The dead yeast will just make for a good yeast nutrient for the new yeast.

[Bubbles]

I could have written the OP, only a few months back.

I did a starter which I planned on pitching into a mild. I do liquid starters so infrequently that I was unsure whether the thing had actually fermented out or not. (The test I should have done was to measure the gravity of the starter, but laziness got the better of me, as it so often does..). Not being sure, I pitched it anyway, and got no action from the fermenter. I ended up pitching a sachet of US05 which got the fermentation going.

The beer turned out quite fusel-y. It tastes like bad homebrew, basically. Too much bad by-products from a stressed fermentation. I've still got it sitting in a corny, but I'm planning on dumping it.

Lesson learned.. don't throw good yeast (even dried yeast) after bad. I'd have been better off doing a new batch of a different beer and using the US05 in that. As for pitching another vial of liquid yeast, at 8 quid a throw, I wouldn't even consider it.